The Path ~ Chapter One

It was very early morning, school finished for another year. One more summer of my youth about to begin. Waking to the ticking of old Dimes toenails on the hardwood floor, the day begins. A pretty normal night's sleep
with ‘those dreams’ again. The good ones, where you don’t remember your feet touching the ground and all the colors are sharp and clear. Another breakfast, another day where all the parts inside wake up one at a time. The sun was bright and everything was set to normal... ‘yea just another day’ or so I thought.

I had already decided I was going ‘exploring’ on this day. Those back fields that lead into the forest at the foot of the mountain needed to be scouted out. There was a path, a bit overgrown but clearly there, that caught my attention a few days back. It wound along the edge of the fields, seemed like a good thing to look into.

Now with breakfast finished and chores behind me I set out to wander a bit. With old Dime at my side off we went. I named her Dime when I brought her home as stray pup….kinda raggedy and needing a bath….my dad looked down at her and remarked ‘well, she’s probably worth 10 cents if you get her cleaned up.’ I swear that dog smiles more than not.

It was a day for exploring……bluest of skies and a hint of the rain from last night's rumblers. The path was clear enough to follow. It hadn’t been used in a while but never broke down. After awhile we started getting closer to the tree line. This was a part of the forest I had never checked out before. The path went straight in and up. So….ok, why not? Might find a good creek with some smooth skipping stones…..the possibilities are endless the first time you set off into uncharted places.

Dime was tagging along, sometimes shooting way off ahead sniffing and exploring her own way. The trees weren’t too thick in the beginning but as I went in further it became a dense canopy. Funny enough that little path was becoming clearer the deeper we went. This was a fine piece of forest to be sure. Not certain how long we walked, looking all around just taking it all in…time has a way of getting left behind on some adventures.
Around the edge of a small slope the trails seemed to widen and smooth out with a tilt up. 'Well, if there is a stream it's going to be a good one', I remember thinking.

Dime was barking off in the distance like she had run into a squirrel or something - the kind that likes to hang onto the trunk of a tree just out of reach and drive her crazy. I looked but saw nothing. ‘Come on girl you chased it off’ ...but she wouldn't budge, barking and scratching at the ground. I figured she would follow along so I continued further up the path. All the time she kept barking and wasn’t giving up……I called her ‘come on girl lets go’ but she stayed. This must be something….she always comes when I call her. Returning I knelt down by her side and looked up to see what it was that had her so roused. I didn't see a thing.

A voice from behind me said softly ‘you can't fool a smart dog’. I spun around so fast I ended up flat on my rear end…and there sitting against another tree was an old man. A pipe in one hand and a smile that instantly calmed my jolted senses.
‘Excuse me sir I didn't know you were there’ I stammered.

‘You weren't supposed to’ he replied with even a bigger smile and a very slight chuckle.
‘Thats a fine looking dog you have there and a sharp one at that’….as he spoke Dime went straight over to the old man and sat to be petted. ‘Friendly little lady’ he exclaimed, petting Dime with those rough aged hands. ‘and what is your name young man?’ he asked with that same impish look in his eye.

‘Oh sorry sir, Nathan…..Nathan James sir, but I go by Jimmy.’
‘Nathan is a fine name…a fine name indeed….as is James….not too many boys get two such fine names together.’ ‘You must be proud.’
Suddenly I was smiling the biggest widest smile I can remember ever having. ‘Thank you sir, never really thought about it.’
‘Oh you should, you should…..why, Nathan is a very important name. Do you know what Nathan means?’
‘No sir’ I answered, realizing I had never given it a single thought before. ‘Well if memory serves Nathan means Gift of God, so it would seem I am in rather fine company this day’. and he laughed.
I remember clearly I had never felt so proud to be called Nathan and in that moment I decided Jimmy was the name I used to be called.
‘and you sir?…what is your name?’
He laughed loudly ‘Oh I am Mr. Alvin and, might I say, a happy man to make your acquaintance Nathan’. He reached out and shook my hand and in that moment something very very special changed. Suddenly I felt the urge to introduce Dime ‘and this is Dime’ he reached down and took Dime’s paw and shook it lightly.
‘My pleasure Dime I welcome you both to my forest.’
‘Mr. Alvin, sir?…..you own the forest?’……oh how he laughed…loud and deep.
‘No one owns the forest….it was a figure of speech Nathan. Very good boy, very good indeed.’
I must say I never heard before or since a laugh so free of restraint, so completely full and alive.
‘So today you decided to explore eh?’
‘Well yes sir, I've never been in this part of the forest before.’
‘Did you find the stream yet?’
‘No sir, I have just been following the path so far.'
‘Oh it is a grand stream….you can reach down and pet the fish….and if I might brag a bit….you will find some of the very best skipping stones there.’
I blurted out.
‘Pet the fish sir? now thats funny.’
‘Oh you haven't ever petted a fish? Well come along I will show you.’

Dime and I followed him off the path for a bit…He walked with a cane but was not infirm in any way. After a short time I began to hear the rushing sound of a stream and knew we must be close.

‘Careful as we get close to the bank young Nathan. It can be a bit loose.’
‘Yes sir’ I answered.

Then, through a low hanging branch it came into view…..a good wide white water stream, cold and refreshing like exactly where you would go on a very hot day.

‘Are you thirsty young Nathan?’ he asked. I nodded. ‘Well you won't find sweeter water than this I think. Just be careful on the rocks.’

I leaned down and cupped my hands to gather the water and drank. It was cold and sparkling, with the sun dancing like it does on the water sometimes. I don't think I had ever really tasted water till that day.

I spied some of the best smooth flat skipping rocks just beneath the clear surface, and lifted one up. It was perfect! I mean perfect, more perfect a flat skipping rock you’ll never find, I bet I could get 15 skips easily from this one. You might note that there are many never and ever’s in this story…..well now you know why I am telling you this tale.

I noticed Mr. Alvin walking along the bank tapping his cane lightly and mumbling something so I went to see. I watched as he walked, stopped, leaned and tapped….again and again as if calling someone or something or looking for something he might have dropped.
‘Here Nathan….over here…they have arrived.’
I walked over and just beneath the surface of the water in the shallows were a gathering of ten or twenty fish.
‘Oh my sir, they certainly do come up close to the bank.’
‘Well?…go on…they came to meet you.’

I looked at him with what must have been the most puzzled of looks because he laughed again so loudly.
‘Go on son, reach down, they won't bite.’
Again he laughed because I was completely stopped at the suggestion. Was this a joke? A way to have fun with a young gullible boy? I think he sensed my confusion…his look changed and he said softly.
‘Here, like this.’

With that he leaned down and flattened his hand stroking the fish lightly. I know my mouth was hanging open. I couldn't believe it. I leaned down as well and mimicked his gestures. The fish simply stayed under my hand with its fin swinging back and forth gently to keep him in place against the current. This was Magic! This was amazing! I was petting a fish! My hand was tingling, eyes wide and once again mouth hanging open.
‘Sir? What kind of fish lets a person pet it? I have never heard of or seen such a thing before.’
‘Well son, it’s really a couple of things, first you need a fish who has not learned to fear, then you need a person who has no desire to cause harm. All that said, it does require a good heart, the same one your little Dime recognizes, yes?’
‘But sir, it is a fish, a fish is worlds apart from a dog.’
‘Not so’s you'd notice if you know how to look.’ he replied with an unmistakable smile in his voice.

I don't know how long we talked or even what else was said about the fish and the ‘nature’ of animals at the stream that day. I do know that I have never looked at a living creature in the same way since.
As we walked he showed me each tree and how certain things grew in certain places, and how where they grew was the only place they could. How each living thing needed each other living thing to survive and bloom.
Time did not exist, I do not know for how long or how far we walked until we reached a small cabin.
‘Your home?’ I asked, feeling particularly silly right after the words left my mouth.
‘Indeed it is and has been for quite a spell.’